Veterinary Surgeons (Jersey) Law 1999: Amendment to Schedule Part 2: Law drafting instructions

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A decision made 27 March 2015:

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2015-0024
Decision Summary Title :		Veterinary Surgeons (Jersey) Law 1999 Amendment to Schedule Part 2		Date of Decision Summary:	26 March 2015
Decision Summary Author:		States Veterinary Officer		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?		Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title :		Request for law drafting: Veterinary Surgeons (Jersey) Law 1999 Amendment		Date of Written Report:	10 February 2015
Written Report Author:		States Veterinary Officer		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Controls on practice of veterinary medicine and surgery
Decision(s): The Minister decided to amend Veterinary Surgeons (Jersey) Law 1999
Reason(s) for Decision: To permit accredited Equine Dental Technicians to carry out certain procedures and to enable introduction of fees in accordance with User Pays policy
Resource Implications: None for provision of draft legislation Individuals granted any approval under the Law will pay a fee, in accordance with User Pays.
Action required: SVO to provide law drafting instructions.
Signature:			Position: Minister for Planning & Environment
Date Signed:	Initials		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Veterinary Surgeons (Jersey) Law 1999: Amendment to Schedule Part 2: Law drafting instructions

DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Veterinary Surgeons (Jersey) Law 1999: Amendment to Schedule Part 2

Purpose of the Report

To demonstrate the requirement for the proposed amendment which will permit qualified equine dental technicians to carry out prescribed procedures and to introduce fees for approval in accordance with User Pays policy.

Background

To protect animal welfare and animal owners, The Veterinary Surgeons (Jersey) Law 1999 restricts the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery to suitable qualified individuals recognised by the Royal Court.

In common with practice elsewhere in Europe, certain procedures are exempt from the general restriction.

Approval may be granted to individuals with particular skills or training to carry out procedures which are otherwise prohibited.

Discussion

Procedures exempt from the general restriction on the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery are stipulated in the Schedule to the Law with appropriate restrictions applied to prevent unnecessary suffering.

An absolute restriction is applied to the extraction of teeth of an animal.

All diagnostic and treatment procedures in the horse’s mouth are acts of veterinary surgery under the Veterinary Surgeons (Jersey) Law 1999. The only exception is the manual removal of small dental overgrowths and sharp enamel points with hand instruments.

For several years it has been acknowledged there are welfare benefits of improved equine dental care and this can be achieved by permitting accredited technicians to perform selected non-invasive procedures in the horse’s mouth. Consequent to advice from European veterinary dental associations including the British Veterinary Dental Association (BVDA) and from human dental specialists, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) have evolved a grading system of procedures, accepted by the RCVS, the British Veterinary Association (BVA), the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians (BAEDT), the BVDA, and the European Veterinary Dental College (EVDC), that clarifies those procedures which can safely be delegated to nonprofessional technicians without compromising the animals’ safety.

Amending the Veterinary Surgeons (Jersey) Law 1999 to permit suitable trained and accredited equine dental technicians (EDTs) who are members of the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians to conduct these specified procedures will ensure adequate safeguards to equine welfare are maintained while enabling suitably trained and qualified individuals to practise in Jersey.

The specified procedures are

• Examination, evaluation and recording of dental abnormalities;

• The removal of loose teeth or dental fragments with negligible periodontal attachments

• The removal of erupted, non-displaced wolf teeth in the upper or lower jaw under direct and continuous veterinary supervision

• Palliative rasping of fractured and adjacent teeth; and

• The use of motorised dental instruments where these are used to reduce overgrowths and remove sharp enamel points only. Horses should be sedated unless it is deemed safe to undertake any proposed procedure without sedation, with full informed consent of the owner.

New, non-invasive procedures could be reviewed after a trial period and if deemed of low risk to animals could be considered for inclusion in the specified procedures.

It is also proposed

(a) to amend Article 10 of the Law, to make it clear that the exemptions in Part 1 of the Schedule may be restricted to specified persons

(b) to amend Article 11 of the Law to enable the Minister to amend Part 2 of the Schedule by Order (the Minister already has the power to amend Part 1).

(c) to introduce provision to charge a fee for any approval necessary under the Law, including those not concerned with equine dentistry, to fulfil the requirement of the States User Pays policy.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to instruct the Veterinary Officer to provide law drafting instructions to amend the Veterinary Surgeons (Jersey) Law 1999 to enable an Equine Dental Technician with membership of the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians to carry out procedures which are otherwise prohibited and include provision to amend the permitted procedures by Order.

The Minister is recommended to instruct the Veterinary Officer to provide law drafting instructions to amend Articles 10 and 11 and to introduce provision to charge a fee for approvals necessary under the Law.

Written by:	Veterinary Officer

Approved by:	Deputy Chief Officer, Department of the Environment

[File Ref]

Ministerial Decision ref: MD-PE-2015-0024

26 March 2015